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18 April 2010

International Incident Party is the brainchild of Penny from Jeroxie, Addictive & Consuming blog and a few fellow food bloggers. A couple months ago, they held an International Gnocchi Party and decided that the party will be a regular thing. I didn't end joining the Gnocchi party due to having the lack of time at the time but when I heard this month's theme is Pizza Pie, I didn't think twice and immediately joined in.

I'm so glad I did. It definitely was a challenge but a yummy one. Right from the beginning I knew I wanted to do a pie in a pizza and a pizza in a pie. So this was what I came up with.

Pizza Pie

A pizza with a Shepherds Pie topping

Pie Pizza

An Aussie meat pie with pizza topping.

I used the same pizza dough for both. This dough is easy to make and if you have a stand alone mixer, you can leave it in there to knead while you do other things. This recipe was from Bill Granger's Feed me now! cookbook.

Pour 300ml warm water into a bowl and sprinkle in 3 tsp of dried yeast. Set aside.

In mixer, add 500g strong plain flour and 2 tsp salt. Using the dough hook, run the mixer on slow speed and add all but 2 tbl spoon of the yeast liquid.

Add the remaining liquid plus a little extra if needed to incorporate the last of the flour. Knead on slow for 15-20 minutes untilit's smooth and elastic.

Turn out onto a floured surface and knead by hand for a minute to form a smooth ball. Place it in a lightly greased bowl and cover with cling wrap and leave to rise in a warm place for 1 hour or until doubled in size. Once risen, knock back the air and turn out onto a floured suface. You can know portion and roll out the shapes you need.

For the shepherd pizza pie topping I used Hubby's Nan's recipe. I did have to convert some of the ingredients to Aussie products as Nan lives in England and we can't get some of the products here.

There is somewhat a confusion regarding the difference between a shepherd's pie and a cottage pie. The difference is in the meat that is used. Shepherds pie has lamb mince while the cottage pie has beef.

For the Aussie Pie Pizza, I found a quick easy recipe and it actually tastes like the true blue Aussie meat pie.

Shepherd Pie Topping:

500g lamb mince

1 onion

2 tsp gravy powder (eg gravox)

2 tbl plain flour

1 beef stock cube

1 tbp tomato paste

1/2 water

Saute the onion in a pan until golden brown. Add the mince and stir till cooked. Meanwhile, mix the flour, gravy powder in 4 tablespoons of cold water to a smooth paste. Add the stock cube. Stir the paste into the mince and add the water. Cover and simmer for 30-45 minutes until most of the liquid as evaporated. Let cool down before using.

Aussie Meat Pie filling:

500g beef mince

375ml water

1 beef stock cube

Salt and pepper

1 onion, thinly sliced

2 tbl plain flour

1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

In a pan, sauté the onions then add the mince. Sprinkle in the flour and the stock cube. Mix till combined. Add the water, Worcestershire sauce and season to taste. Simmer for 30 minutes. Cool down before using

Roll out the pizza dough into a a round shape. Mine wasn't quite round but that makes it look homemade. Top with the shepherds pie topping, then top with sliced onions and thinly sliced potato. Sprinkle over loads of cheese.

I used a large muffin tray to shape my pie pizzas. Roll out the dough and cut our circles and place in the muffin tray. Ensure that it only goes up 3/4 of the tray. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes till golden brown. Add your meat pie filling then place the lid. When placing the lid, make the edges rise high acting like a bowl. This will hold all your pizza toppings. Smother the lid with tomato paste. For the pizza topping, you can use any ingredient you like. I used, chopped onions, capsicum, salami and lots of cheese. Bake in oven for approximately 10 mins.

We were on the same wavelength - I used potato in my pizza, too! But you went the extra mile and gave us two dishes. You certainly know how to make this pizza-lover a happy person! Thanks for sharing Nan's shepherd's pie recipe since that's a dish my husband really enjoys!